Part One

Anna watched the red numbers on the lift panel as they counted down: four, three, two, one, ground. Then they started counting up again as the lift descended below the surface. She looked up at the tall soldier standing in front of her and to her left. His eyes were staring straight ahead at the heavy metal lift doors. Three, four, five... She wondered if he ever blinked.

Eight, nine, ten...

"How far down are we going?" Anna asked, hearing the note of concern in her own voice. The soldier never moved. Never blinked.

"Level 26 ma'am."

Anna sighed silently. It had been the same since she'd received the cryptic message from the medical center nearly a week ago, no one telling her anything, explaining anything. She'd been put on paid administrative leave for absolutely no reason and with no explanation, and before she'd even had time to take a breath with which to start screaming about it, a second message had arrived, marked with the Federation crest and coded eyes only. She'd protested with the messenger -- another faceless soldier in black -- that she wasn't cleared for that level of security. That man had also rarely blinked.

The message was a summons from the Supreme Commander of the Army Space Corps. Arrangements made. Travel papers unquestioned, barely looked at. Transport shuttles waiting for her, recognizing her, without ever asking her name. The whole business had unnerved her more than she hoped she'd let on, but the worst part had started when she stepped into this damned lift not more than an hour ago.

Then she'd been riding up, straight up, to the top floor where the met with the man her father had described as the biggest son of a bitch of them all. The man in charge of the entire Federation armed forces. A man she had no reason to meet.

A loud ding shattered her thoughts as the lift came to a halt and the doors slid soundlessly open. Anna's escort stepped courteously to the side to allow her to exit first. She walked past him, unable to take her eyes off the long white corridor that opened in front of her.

Once out of the lift, the soldier again took the lead as they made their way casually down the long empty corridor. Not a single door or passageway opened off the corridor, though Anna thought she sensed a slight curve to the walls.

After more than five minutes of walking she was beginning to wonder where on Earth the man was taking her. The Supreme Commander had spoken of a prisoner. A prisoner in need of specialized medical care, but this was unlike any prison Anna had ever heard of. Finally, an end materialized in the form of a single door. The passageway widened slightly to accommodate an alcove off to the side of the door where there was a desk, a computer station, and two more soldiers.

Without speaking, Anna's escort presented the guard seated at the desk with a data chip, turned on his heel and walked back towards the lift. Anna stared at him, completely unsure of what she was expected to do.

"Doctor?" the guard said. Anna jumped at his voice. She smiled sheepishly.

"I guess so. All of this has got me a little confused." The man returned her smile kindly.

"I understand. Sometimes the security measures are hard for civilians to comprehend."

After her meeting with the Supreme Commander, a general -- or commander, or someone -- had told her “everything she needed to know” and in so doing had told her nothing at all. No one was to know her real name. She was not to ask her patient for his name, and she was not to give him hers. She was to live in the central compound for the duration of her work under an assumed name, and everyone associated with her work would know her simply as Doctor. The general had told her it was necessary for her safety, for everyone's safety. He'd told her a lot of things. And nothing.

The man stood and extended his hand. "You can call me Commander." She shook his hand and he gestured for her to come around behind the desk. As she did, she realized that there was a door, expertly concealed in the wall behind him. Concealed from whom, she wondered. Who would be down here to see?

The Commander led her through the concealed door into what looked like an officer's quarters. The forward part seemed to double as an office, while the rear contained sleeping quarters, mess facilities, and leisure facilities. For a moment, she wondered in horror if this was what was meant when they'd told her she would be given "quarters" in the central compound. A wave of claustrophobia washed over her.

The Commander went around to the desk in the forward portion and opened what looked like a bank of safety deposit boxes in the wall. He punched in a code and removed one of the boxes.

"Now," he said, "I'm going to let you in to see Alpha in a few minutes, but first we have to go over the ground rules." He sat down behind the desk and motioned for her to sit. "I have to emphasize, these rules are for your own safety. Alpha is not to be underestimated." He stared at her for a moment, as if willing her to understand with his eyes. She nodded weakly.

"First, nothing goes into or comes out of the cell without being cleared by us, and anything that goes in, has to come out. Everything has to be accounted for, every bit of gauze, every cotton ball, every pencil you take in there has to be logged, inspected and filed. Everything." He picked up a clip board and pushed it across the desk. "In a moment I'll ask you to empty your pockets and everything will go into this box," he pointed at the metal container, "and it will stay in there until you come out again, OK?" She nodded again.

"Second, you'll be given a radio signal to take with you into the cell." He picked up a small square of metal from his desk with a single button in it and handed it to her. "This is so you can call for a guard if you need one. There aren't any recording devices or listening devices in the cell. We won't know what's going on in there, so this is your only way to contact us if you need help." Anna stared at him, wondering what kind of madman she'd been sent to play doctor to, and why, if he was so dangerous, they weren't watching him at every minute.

"Finally, you'll only be allowed in the cell for an allotted period of time. You're only to assess him at this point."

"Assess him?" Anna interrupted. "Assess him for what?"

"Assess his health, both physical and mental." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "We've started to notice that he's gone a bit... funny. Talking to himself, and to... other people."

"There are other people in there?"

"No." The Commander abruptly stood and passed her the clipboard. "I think that's everything now, Doctor. If you'll just empty your pockets..."

It didn't take very long for Anna to divulge the contents of her pockets or for the Commander to note them in his log. She was amused, and somewhat bewildered that he included "blouse, skirt, two shoes, undergarments (presumed)" in his inventory.

The Commander then led her back out of the office to the little alcove at the end of the corridor. The other guard snapped to attention as they passed, and fell into step with them as they walked up to the door.

On either side of the obviously heavy metal door was a handprint recognition panel. Anna recognized the device from the medical center where they were used for restricted sections. What she didn't expect was the retinal scanner and the voice recognition prompt, and the code words to which both men were subjected before there was a soft and somewhat anticlimactic click.

The younger officer stepped back while the Commander opened the door. He held it open and, apprehensively, Anna entered.

The cell, as the Commander called it, was like no cell Anna had ever seen. It was not a single cramped room as she had been expecting, but a large, even gracious living area that appeared to branch off into other rooms; it was minimalist and functional in design, yet tasteful nevertheless. A bookshelf on the wall housed a small, but probably priceless collection of actual books. Potted plants had been placed around the room. Anna stared. The Commander walked over to a panel in the wall and pressed a button. A few seconds elapsed. Then, there was a voice on the speaker.

"Yes?"

"Your visitor is here, Alpha." The Commander turned back to Anna. "Remember what I told you about the radio signal," he said softly. "Press it once and one of us will be here in seconds." She nodded, and then, to her horror, the Commander turned and left, the door clicking much more ominously as it closed behind him. Anna stared at it for a moment, and then remembered who she was waiting for and turned around.

In the doorway opposite her stood a man. He looked to be about fifty, with dark hair graying at the temples, and a few harsh lines crossing his face. His expression was blank, but his black eyes burned cold and hard as he stared at her. She saw something – recognition? disbelief? fear? – in those cold eyes, but she couldn’t place it.

"Who the hell are you?" he whispered hoarsely. Anna felt a bit frightened at the intensity of the question.

"I'm a doctor," she replied shakily, "your doctor." In an instant his expression changed. The eyes softened slightly to include curiosity.

"Doctor?" She noticed how his muscles remained tense and his eyes alert. Who was this man they had buried so far beneath the earth? A killer? A maniac? Some sort of madman? And why on earth had they chosen her? She forced herself to remain calm as she nodded.

"Your guards were concerned about you. They wanted me to--"

"You're a shrink," he said, sounding suddenly amused. He walked forward abruptly, like a cat springing from a crouch and stopped a few feet away from her.

"Yes," she replied. "I'm a psychiatrist, but I'm also a medical doctor. I was made to understand you haven't been feeling well--"

"The resemblance is uncanny," he said quietly, studying her intently. "Where in the galaxy did she find you?" Anna didn't know how to respond. She decided to distance herself from him. He's your patient, she thought, you're his doctor.

"Resemblance? To whom? Where did who find me?" His expression changed again.

"Let the games begin, eh? Very well," he walked away from her and took a seat on one of the couches that lined the room. "What's your name, or should I ask, what do they want me to call you?" He gestured to the couch opposite him. Anna moved to the proffered seat, her clinical mind taking over her fear, analyzing him to protect herself from her own paranoia.

"Doctor will be fine. And you're Alpha," she said.

"That's right. The alpha and the omega. I was there at the beginning and I was there at the end." His eyes trailed off for a moment.

"The end?" she prompted. They snapped back to her, razor sharp and analyzing her every bit as much as she was analyzing him, maybe more.

"That's a very long story, Doctor, one I'm not sure you're prepared to hear."

"Well, as far as I can tell, I'm here for you, so I'm prepared to hear whatever you'd like to talk about." He smiled, the gesture cold, twisted, mocking.

"That's not exactly what I meant. It's just that I wonder if you fully grasp the responsibility attached to this position you've accepted." She looked at him questioningly. " Or perhaps the better word would be vulnerability."

"I'm afraid I'm not following you."

"Come come now, Doctor. Certainly it has occurred to you that you're being sent to assess the mental stability of a very secret, probably very important, probably political prisoner."

"Yes..."

"And certainly this caused you to realize that you might be privy to some possibly very secret, possibly very important, possibly very classified information that I might have locked in my head." Anna stared at him, her professional shield melting back into fear at his implications.

"And I can tell by your expression that you realize that that kind of information, the kind they bury instead of eliminating, the kind they hide instead of disposing of is not going to be allowed to walk around in the free world once your job here is done." Anna didn't know what to say. She felt a horrible sick nugget of truth forming in her stomach. Whoever he was, whatever he was, if she found out about him, they'd hardly be likely to just let her walk away.

"That's right, Doctor. I'd think twice about taking this job if I were you. Once you decide to be a part of this charade, you're a part of it." From somewhere behind her, there was a soft click. "Ask my old friend, the Commander." She whipped around, and found, to her great relief, that the Commander was in fact standing in the open doorway behind her. She leaped from her seat and hurried to his side.

"All right there, Alpha?" the Commander asked, sounding almost genial.

"The alpha and the omega, right Commander? The beginning and the end..." Anna hurried out of the cell, not waiting to be instructed by the Commander. She stood by his desk, hugging her arms to herself, suddenly cold in the sterile white hallway as the two officers once again shut and locked the door.

The Commander approached her, concern written in his eyes. "Come inside and sit down," he said softly.